


From the Passenger Seat

by wheelsablaze



Series: Finding Your Soulmate while Bonding through Terror [1]
Category: Free!
Genre: College/University, Explicit Language, Fluff, M/M, Scary Movies
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2014-09-07
Updated: 2014-09-07
Packaged: 2018-02-16 10:58:20
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,371
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/2267187
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/wheelsablaze/pseuds/wheelsablaze
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Their weekly movie nights always descended into chaos. Mostly because Nagisa only ever brings scary movies, much to Makoto's chagrin. It wasn't until Sousuke joined them, for the first time ever, that Makoto gained the courage to sit through an entire, frightening film.</p>
            </blockquote>





	From the Passenger Seat

So there sits Sousuke, sighing, as he watches Nagisa try to drag Makoto back to the couch.

"No, Nagisa, you guys always do this and you  _know_  I can’t handle scary things!”

"Aww, Mako-chan, please! It’ll be fun!"

"No!" Makoto is almost to his door now, hardly encumbered by the small frame wrapped around his large body.

"Makoto-senpai, this happens every week, you know you’ll end up out here, anyway," Rei said simply. "You need only remember it’s a movie and completely illogical at that."

Rin leaned over to whisper in Sousuke’s ear, “This seriously happens every time we do this.” He laughs as he regards his friends and their struggle.

"Well, why would you guys keep picking out scary movies if you know Tachibana doesn’t like them?"

His stoney face took Rin aback, the red head rubbed the back of his neck sheepishly, “Ah, well, I don’t know… it’s always Nagisa that picks the movies, honestly. It’s difficult to tell him no.”

Haru’s quiet voice broke into their conversation, “It doesn’t matter, anyway, Makoto’s own curiosity will pull him back in here. He won’t be able to stay alone in his room when he hears what’s going on out here.”

"Why doesn’t he wear headphones or something?" Sousuke’s logical question must have floated over to Makoto’s doorway, where Makoto had his hands on either side of the frame, resisting Nagisa’s tugs to draw him back to the couch.

"Don’t give him ideas, Sou-chan!" Nagisa whined.

"That’s brilliant! I’m an idiot to not have thought of it before," Makoto slapped a hand to his forehead.

Several things happened at once, then. Nagisa’s eyes sparkled as he realized Makoto had removed a hand from the doorframe. He puffed his cheeks and gave one last, mighty yank, just as Makoto’s other hand had started slipping. The two flew backward, Nagisa cackling madly as Makoto yelped. Landing on top of the small blond, Mako could hear a small ‘oof’ escape the lips near his right ear.

"Ah! Nagisa, I’m so sorry, are you okay?!" He scrambled and flopped, trying hard to get off Nagisa as quickly as possible. Turning around he offered his hand to help the other boy up.

The little menace just laughed as he accepted the outstretched hand, “No, it’s my fault, Mako-chan. I’m fine! So, let’s watch this movie, already!” Promptly changing the subject, he clasped his other hand over Makoto’s wrist and their scuffle began anew.

"Nagisa! No!" Makoto yelled.

The remaining boys on the couch all sighed.

"Hazuki, if he doesn’t want to watch scary movies, it’s wrong to force him," Sousuke’s quiet, but stern voice made Nagisa stop.

He pouted, and even looked slightly ashamed at Sousuke’s admonition, “But, I want us all to be together! It’s always more fun when it’s all of us.” He squirmed under Sousuke’s scrutinizing gaze, and turned downcast eyes to a flustered Makoto. “Sorry, Mako-chan,” the apology fumbled forth unwillingly from his mouth.

"Uh, it’s uh… it’s okay, Nagisa," he replied as if in a daze, looking between Nagisa and Sousuke, mouth slightly agape.

Everyone else on the couch had similar expressions on their faces. Never had they seen someone put Nagisa in his place quite like Sousuke just had, and with such finesse, too.

Suddenly realizing Makoto was staring at him, Sousuke felt heat creep to his cheekbones. “What?” he asked as he turned his head away, needing to look  _anywhere_  but at Makoto right now.

"N-nothing!" Makoto started and frantically waved apologetic hands in front of his body. Laughing nervously, he scratched the back of his head.

Nagisa gave a sly smile as he observed Mako’s ruffled appearance.

"God, you guys are so  _weird_ ,” Sousuke mumbled under his breath. He glared at Rin as he received a swift elbow to his ribs for his comment. “Don’t act like you don’t know it’s true,” he glowered more as he rubbed at the pain in his side.

"Don’t be rude," Rin hissed lowly.

Haru, face set in his usual deadpan expression, said softly, “We are pretty weird, though.”

Sousuke’s face was unbearably warm now, he hadn’t truly intended for any of them to have heard his remark. He chose to remain silent, opting to keep his mouth shut before he was forever written off as a snarky bastard. Why he suddenly cared what they thought of him, though, he didn’t know.

The stillness in the room was almost suffocating, it seemed they’d all gotten lost in their own minds, unable to find their paths to normal social interaction.

Rei broke the awkward silence, “So, this movie. Are we still planning on watching it, or…” he trailed off, an eyebrow raised.

Nagisa snapped back into his normal, excitable self, “Okay! That’s the spirit Rei-chan, let’s do this!” He gave a little hop in place and made to walk around the couch, sans Makoto. Looking over his shoulder, “Mako-chan doesn’t have to join us, but there’s strength in numbers, you know!” He gave a wink and took his seat between Rei and Haru.

Makoto hesitated a moment, body positioned halfway in his room, he watched his friends (Sousuke’s a friend, now, right?) as they got situated and comfortable on the large, L-shaped couch. His heart gave a small twinge as he thought of Sousuke sticking up for him. He eyed the man as he stretched out on the side of the couch that jutted out toward the television.

Just as his eyes reached Sousuke’s face, the taller man looked his way. Realizing he’d been caught staring, again, he blanched and offered a weak smile as Sousuke’s lips quirked up.

"Tachibana, either get your ass out here, or get to your room and put headphones on before it starts."

Makoto fidgeted, “Oh! Um, yeah, you’re right. Maybe I- well, I don’t know, maybe I’ll try to make it through this with you guys.”

Nagisa had a triumphant smile on his face, “Oh  _no_ , Mako-chan, this movie really is much too scary, and now that we’ve all gotten comfortable, you’ll have to sit at the very end of the couch, on the side that’s closest to the TV! I don’t think you’ll be able to handle it.” The little terror had the nerve to embed mock concern into his words.

"Nagisa-kun, we can easily make roo-" Rei’s words were cut off by a not-so-subtle stomp to his right foot. "Ouch, hey! What was that fo-" this time Nagisa slapped a hand over his mouth as he held an innocent, closed-eye smile.

"Nagisa, what the hell is wrong with you?" Rin questioned, eyebrows furrowed.

Haru, as stoic as ever, reached his hand to pry Nagisa’s away from Rei’s mouth, “I think he’s having trouble breathing, Nagisa.”

Sousuke rolled his eyes at their antics, “I’ll sit at the end. Come on, Tachibana.” He sat up and moved toward the end of the couch, looking expectantly at Makoto.

Nagisa giggled madly,  _I’m an evil genius_ , he thought to himself. Rei, Rin, and Haru sent him questioning (and maybe a little bit frightened) looks.

"R-right, uh, thanks, Yamazaki-kun," Makoto stepped around the couch and sat next to Rin. "There’s still plenty of room here, if you wanted to stretch out again."

Sousuke peered down at where Makoto’s hand was patting the cushion. Scooting closer, he looked back up to Makoto to see a nervous smile,  _Cute…_  he couldn’t stop the thought. Didn’t even realize he’d thought it until it was too late, and he began blushing.

"Ugh, so stupid," he murmured silently to himself. Apparently, not as silently as he thought, though.

"W-what?"

He wanted to punch himself. Frustrated, he bit out, “No! Not you, just, I- yeah. I was talking about myself… to myself…” how embarrassing. Face absolutely flaming, he just let his body fall forward onto the couch, face buried in a pillow.

The soft chuckle he heard above him now made his heart flutter. It was also getting hard to breathe, so he turned his red face to the right and looked up at Makoto. “Sorry,” he grumbled.

Laughing, Makoto reached down and mussed up his black hair. The simple touch seemed to electrify both of them, as they both took a sharp intake of breath. Hand stilling, eyes locked, they froze.

The moment seemed to last forever, as their hearts began pounding. They stared.

Makoto felt as if he should say something,  _do_  something, remove his hand that was almost in a gentle caress of Sousuke’s forehead. He opened his mouth to speak.

"Hey!" The two entranced men jumped at Nagisa’s voice, "Mako-chan, you have to turn your bedroom light off! It’s gotta be completely dark!"

Quickly removing his hand, he hadn’t even realized the only light in the room was coming from the continuously looping movie menu on the TV screen, and his own bedroom. He was exceedingly grateful for that fact, now, though. His face could easily be mistaken for a sun-ripened tomato.

"Ah, right! S-sorry," he was about to stand, but a strong hand grabbed hold of his forearm.

"I’ll do it," Sousuke spoke quietly, not making eye contact.

Makoto’s skin prickled under Sousuke’s large hand. Shyly, he said, “It’s okay, I can do it.”

Sousuke looked him in the eye finally, “It’ll be almost completely dark, though. I’ll do it.” He stood then, accepting no further argument.

Everyone on the couch was perplexed.

"What the  _fuck_  is going on?” Rin whispered to Haru.

Haru had been observing very closely for some time now; he was interested in where this night may lead. He said nothing in return to Rin, though, turning his eyes to the screen instead.

Returning to the couch, Sousuke laid on his back, his head almost touching Makoto’s thigh. Lifting his arms to cross behind his head, he accidentally knocked his elbow against Makoto’s bicep, “Sorry.”

"It’s fine," the sweet smile on his face had Sousuke melting. It was becoming more and more difficult to keep up his steely demeanor the longer he was around Makoto.

Almost without thinking, he removed his left arm from beneath him and lifted his hand to lightly graze the area he’d elbowed. The action caused the green eyed man to shiver.  _Sensitive, huh,_  Sousuke smirked, even as his heart beat rapidly in his chest.  
_____________________

As the movie progressed, they kept having small brushes of contact. Especially since Makoto kept sinking himself deeper and lower into the couch out of fear, his constant shifting bringing him a little closer to Sousuke.

Sousuke sat up halfway through the movie, his interest piqued. His back leaned against the back cushion and his legs extended out on the couch in front of him. He let his head rest at the top of the couch, slightly tilted backward and crossed his arms. Subconsciously, he started to incline ever so slightly toward Makoto’s cowering body.

Makoto drew his legs up off the floor and close to his chest. He, too, had his arms crossed and his face was nuzzled between his knees, just barely allowing his eyes to peep over the top of them.

A jump scare made Makoto yelp and flinch, drawing Sousuke’s gaze his way. Sousuke couldn’t help the worry he felt. People that are this afraid of scary movies are likely to psychologically torture themselves with endless thought loops of terrifying things. Lightly, he poked Makoto’s side, which caused the poor guy further alarm.

"Sorry, I just wanted to make sure you were okay," he whispered quickly, and reached his right hand to carefully soothe Makoto’s panic by rubbing gentle circles atop his bended knee.

Makoto relaxed at his touch, looked down at the other’s hand, and then into his eyes through sooty lashes. He felt a lump in his throat, so affected was he by Sousuke’s sweet gesture. There’d been many of them tonight. Who was this guy, anyway? Makoto felt as if he couldn’t think straight when he was around him. His heart felt light and heavy at the same time and nothing was making sense.

Clearing his throat, his voice came out deeper than normal, “I’m okay, thank you, Sousuke.”

Hearing his name flow from those angel’s lips made Sousuke shudder. “Ah, that’s uh, that’s good. I’m glad, Makoto,” it felt a little awkward to say his name, but he figured he should get used to it. This night had wrought such strange realizations.

Their eyes were drawn back to the screen as Rin yelled, “Oh, FUCK!”

Nagisa had squealed and immediately began laughing hysterically as another scary moment passed the tallest two by, unnoticed.

Makoto chuckled and pressed his elbow into Rin’s side, garnering him a sideways glare from his sharklike friend.

Sousuke smiles,  _really_  smiles, as he observes the interactions. He found that he’s actually been quite taken with these bunch of nerds.  _Shit, guess I’m part of the group, now,_  he sighs to himself, a little exhausted from this high-energy lot.

He moved his right arm to cross against his left once again, lost in thought. Then, he felt a feather-light stroke from Makoto’s fingers against his own. Looking down, he sees that Makoto had also recrossed his arms, with his left hand outstretched and wandering fingers. His eyes were resolutely glued to the screen, though. Sousuke’s heart skipped a beat.

Makoto, sensing hesitation, cast his eyes downward and clenched his hand into a fist.

 _No,_  Sousuke thought, heart throbbing. He kept facing forward, eyes unseeing on the screen and face devoid of emotion. Internally, though, he was berating himself.

Taking in a calming breath, he slowly extended his fingers toward Makoto’s. The pulse of energy that flowed through their contact settled a warm sensation in the pit of his stomach. He almost felt as if he needed to gasp for air.

Steadily, painstakingly, the brunet reciprocated the touch. After their hands teased and caressed one another’s, Makoto eventually twined his fingers in Sousuke’s. The fire in the pit of his stomach spread throughout his body, and Sousuke inhaled sharply, overwhelmed.

Makoto turned to him then, eyes kind and wide in wonder. He looked so content, so  _fucking_  precious, Sousuke had to force his urge to lunge at the man back down into the raging inferno inside him.

**Author's Note:**

> Hahaha, this started as a headcanon post on Tumblr and it just... yeah, it really flew away from me. So here's this thing I did. It's choppy and could be much better but I'm already writing a similar fic, soooo, yeah.
> 
> Also, I rated this Teen and Up, I'm new to this fanfiction thing, so I don't really know how much explicit language is too much explicit language... eh, it is what it is.
> 
> The title comes from my inability to be creative with titles, but also from the song Passenger Seat by Death Cab for Cutie. The first time I heard it (after watching Free! and Free! Eternal Summer, that is), it instantly made me think of SouMako.


End file.
